Collapsible life-raft.



H. L. HAYFORD..

COLLAPSIBLE LIFE RAFT.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN.14,1918.

Patented Apr. 23,1918.

HOWARDFL. I-IAFORD, OF WHITMAN, -MASSACHUSETTS.

coLLArs'IBLE LIFE-nerr.

Specification oiLetters Patent. patiente@ Apr', 23, 191%.

Applicationpled January 14,1918. Serial No. 211,713.

To all iii/wm. t may concern.'

Be it known that l, Howano L. HAY-FORD, a citizen of tlie'UnitedYStates, residing at Vilhitman, in the county of Plymouth and State oflvlassachusetts, have invented new and useiul lmproi'feinents in`Collapsible Lifedtafts, of which the following is a specitication.

This invention relates to a life rait which includes a buoyant body ofannular 'or like continuous form, the body being iranieshapedandsurrounding an opening, a bottom adapted to be stored or nested in saidopening to collapse vthe raft, and Vflexible suspending meanscoifinecting the bottom with the body, and adapted to support tl bottomin a plane below the body when the raft is in use, the suspending meansbeing movable with the body to Apermit the necessary movements of Athebody in collapsing` and extending the raft. y

The invention has yforV its object to simplify and reduce the expense ciconstructing a raft of this character, and relatesparticularly to thesuspending means connecting the bottom with the body.

The invention is embodiedin the .improvements which l will now proceedto describe and claim. v

@if the accompanying drawings, forming a part of ythis specification,-

Figure l is a side view o'i' a collapsible raft embodying the invention,therailr being operatively extended. i

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.

`Fig. 3 is a side view of a portion of the elongated striphereinatterdescribed, from which the suspending device is formed.

Fig. l isa sectional Vview of a `portion of the body, and shows thestrip as applied to the body prior to its attachment to the bottom.

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of' Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, showing the bottom moved into theopening surrounded by the body.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the suspendingdevice, in its operative position, the buoyant body and the bottombeingshown by dotted lines.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of thefigures.

ln the drawings 12 designates a continuous annular buoyant body orlioat, preferably of elliptical form as shown by F ig. 2. Said body maybe of any suitable buoyant construction and mayV include an inner airtube of thin sheet metal and a tubular cover- VY@ing of'c'orli, or othersuitable buoyant mavcumierentially thereon, when `the bottom is movedsidewise relatively to the body. rl`he suspensory is formed and adaptedte support the bottom `at a plane below the plane of the body, asindicated b y Figs. l and 5, and is caused to slip circum'ferentially onthe body, when the bottom is moved into 4the opening surroundedby thebody, as 'indicatedlby Fig. 6. `rlhe preferred construction of 'thesuspen- 'sory `is as follows:

l take an elongated strip 14 of' any suitable flexible material,preferably ropel or cord netting, `of relatively coarse mesh andprovided with .selvage edges. l couple vtogether the transverse edges orends i4@ of the -strip to form aseam, indicated aft 15v (Fig. 2), andthen lfold Ithe-now continuous strip over the body l2, as indicatedbyFig. l, the longitudinal edges l-t? of the strip hanging parallel withand below the body. Finally, Iattach the longitudinal edge portions ofthe strip to the margin of the body by any suitable fastening means suchas nails or screws 16, the binding strip 17 being preferably placed uponthe outer layer of the folded body, in position to receive the attachingdevices.

It will now be seen that the strip 14 constitutes a Suspensory formed asa continuous annular bag', loosely embracing the body and adapted toslip circumferentially thereon when the bottom is moved sidewiserelatively to the body. rlhe width of the strip 14 is such that thesuspensory is adapted to support the bottom in a plane considerablybelow the plane of the body. rlhe freedom of the suspensory to slipeircumferentially on the body enables the bottom to be freely Vinner andouter zones.

w While the strip 14 may be made of any suitableA flexible materialsuchas canvas, I prefer open mesh netting, the intersecting strands ofwhich are inclined Vrelatively to 'the longitudinal edges l@ of thestrip, be-

cause this material is adapted by its reticulatedstructure and by thearrangement of its strands to be spread smoothly over the upper portionof theV body l2 and to depend smoothly therefrom Without folds orcreases,

yas shown by Fig. 7. From this ligure it will be seen that the meshes ofthe vertical inner s zone depending from the body are vertically velongated and laterally contracted, while the meshes of the inclinedouter Zone dependin from the body are vertically contracted an laterallyenlarged, and the meshes of the intermediate zone seated on the upperportion y of the body, lie smoothly on the body, there sor being anentire absence of overlapping folds t 0r creases kin either zone. TheVreticulated strip, therefore, forms an annular bag which includes smoothinner and outer wall portions,l and a smooth intermediate Vportion ladapted to accurately conform to and slip freely on the body 12. Y Y

Moreover, the Anetting is adapted to pass freely with the bottom intoorthrough the openlng'surrounded by the body without s liability offouling or causing the bottom to i bind within the body, so that theraft is adapted to be' quickly extended` or rendered operative.

I claim:

LA collapsible life raft comprising a buoyant annular body, a bottomformed to enter the opening surrounded by the body,

Vand a ieXible annular suspensory formed from an elongated strip offlexible material and including a central zone which is seated on theupper portion of the annular body when the bottom is depressed belowsaid body, and inner and outer zones depending from the central zone,converging therefrom to the margin of the bottom, and attached to saidmargin.

2. A collapsible life raft comprising a buoyant annular body, a bottomformed to enter the opening surrounded by the body, and a flexibleannular suspensory composed of an elongated strip of fiexible material.folded over the body, attached at its longitudinal edges to the marginof the bottom, and coupled together at its, transverse edges, said stripforming a continuous annular bag, loosely embracino` the body andadapted to slip cireumferentially thereon when the bottom is movedsidewise relatively t0 the body, said annular bag including a centralzone which is seated on the upper portion of the annular body when thebottom is depressed below said body, and inner and outer zones dependingfrom the central zone, converging therefrom to the margin of the bottom,and attached to said margin.

3. A collapsible life raft comprising a buoyant annular body, a bottomformed to enter the opening surrounded by the body,

and an `elongated Strip of open mesh netting formed into an annular bag,and having its intersecting strands inclined relatively to thelongitudinal edges of the strip, said bag including a central zone whichis seated on the -upper portion of the body when the bottom is depressedbelow the body, and inner and outer zones depending from the centralzone, converging therefrom to the margin of the bottom, and attached toSaid margin, the inclination of said strands permitting the bag toconform to the body and depend therefrom without folds or creases.

In testimony whereof I have atlixed mv signature. U

HOIVARD L. HAYFORD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

` Washington, D. C.

